A Cuban resident abroad, known on TikTok as Bad Boy, posted a 29-second video on Friday that went viral as he sarcastically responded to those in Cuba demanding phone top-ups, while showcasing the real demands of his life outside the island.
In the clip posted on his TikTok account, the creator dismantles the idea that living in "the Yuma" — a popular Cuban expression referring to the United States — is synonymous with comfort and easy money. "And so you want a top-up, right? And then you say that being in the Yuma means enjoying the Coke of oblivion. Look, so that you don't keep saying that those who go abroad have an easier life," he says in the video.
The recording accumulated more than 60,300 views, 1,449 likes, and 165 shares, reflecting how much the topic resonates with the Cuban diaspora.
The Bad Boy video fits into a trend that has been growing for months on TikTok: Cuban émigrés expressing their frustration over requests for money and recharge credits that they feel are disconnected from the job reality they face outside of Cuba.
In August 2025, Katy González Miranda went viral in response to a demand for a $20 recharge for a birthday with a phrase that spread across social media: "I am cleaning bathrooms for $13 an hour. I'm not going to give my money away to anyone, unless it's my mom, my dad, or my siblings."
This June, Cuban BellaMadi announced that she had cut communication with people in Cuba because each conversation ended with requests for phone top-ups or money. And on June 15, another Cuban in the United States recounted that a friend asked her for $5,000 to emigrate.
The phenomenon has structural roots. Cuba is experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis: 89% of the population lives in extreme poverty, the average state salary does not exceed 20 dollars per month, and 33.9% of households go hungry.
In the face of this collapse, the remittances and top-ups sent by the diaspora have become a lifeline for millions of families. 92% of the remittances received by Cuba come from the United States, and the average amount sent by Cubans in Miami is around $2,165 per year in top-ups, cash, and transfers.
However, many emigrants complain that requests have become demanding and constant, without those making them understanding the conditions under which people work outside the island. In April 2025, a Cuban woman in Spain exploded against those asking for money without grasping the sacrifice involved in earning it: "Can you send me €100? without knowing the sacrifice one has to make here, not to earn €50, but to earn €5!"
The narrative that the Bad Boy video seeks to dismantle — that emigrants "took the Coca Cola from the living" while those who remain in Cuba suffer — remains one of the most heated debates within the Cuban community on social media.
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